Today marks the 2025 “Ivy Day,” when students across the globe receive their admissions results from Ivy League and select top schools. Though students received their individual results, many Ivy League schools, including Cornell and UPenn chose to withhold much of their institutional admissions data, as they did in previous cycles. These institutions are seeking to distance themselves from the negative stigma associated with hyperselectivity and elitism. Meanwhile, schools that were once considered “safe” or “match” options have become just as competitive as schools in the Ivy League, signaling that shifts in the current admissions landscape require new strategies to succeed.
Beyond the numbers and data, this admissions cycle revealed important shifts in institutional priorities, as colleges reaffirm the importance of academics through the reinstatement of standardized testing requirements, place growing emphasis on interdisciplinary learning, and push for greater socioeconomic diversity following the Supreme Court’s affirmative action ruling. Here’s what this year’s results reveal about elite college admissions today—and what students need to know as they prepare for the upcoming cycle:
Students Are Flocking to the “New Ivies”
The Ivy League schools have faced significant criticism in the last few years as a result of their admissions practices, as well as public backlash regarding the institutions’ handling of pro-Palestine protests. Recent funding hits from the Trump administration seem to promise further scrutiny and turmoil for these elite institutions. As the Ivy League schools continue to come under fire, other prestigious institutions have become increasingly desirable—and competitive—amongst talented applicants. Rice University, for instance, saw a 13% increase in applicants this year, with 36,749 students applying across the Early Decision, Early Decision II, and Regular Decision and Questbridge programs. NYU had a record-breaking year, receiving over 120,000 applicants, a 3% increase over last year and the largest pool in its history. Notre Dame, meanwhile, saw a record-breaking pool of REA and RD applicants, accepting 9% of those who applied—down more than two percentage points from the prior cycle. Students anticipating future admissions cycles should take note—these schools are no longer back-up options for the Ivy League; they are reach schools in their own right.
Interdisciplinarity is “In”
For years, elite colleges have prioritized students with deep, singular academic passions. Now, rather than accepting well-rounded students, these top schools want to admit well-rounded classes full of singularly focused students. While universities maintain focus on admitting applicants with distinct core interests, they also reinforced the value of interdisciplinarity amongst applicants this admissions cycle. MIT, for instance, notes that accepted students have interests in “cosmology and cosplay, quantum and quilting, agriculture and archery.” Cornell, likewise, highlighted admitted applicants whose interests braided together cryptography and disaster relief runs, air pollution research and Habitat for Humanity volunteer work, Crohn’s Disease research and efforts to save local pollinators.
Elite institutions like MIT and Cornell are not looking for students who excel at everything, but they do not want a student’s specialization to come at the expense of a dynamic personality or perspective. While top schools like Harvard or Princeton might receive hundreds of applicants interested in robotics, they are more likely to remember an applicant who combined their interest in robotics with their interest in ethics and philosophy. Finding innovative intersections in seemingly unrelated interests or hobbies showcases a student’s creative perspective, their distinct voice, and the way in which their experiences will shape their contributions in and outside of the classroom.
Standardized Test Scores are Back
Even at schools that maintained test-optional policies, applicants to the Class of 2029 submitted standardized test scores in large numbers. For instance, 74% of students applying to Boston College submitted standardized test scores, as did 65% of students applying to Tufts, a school in its fifth year of a six-year test-optional trial.
Research compiled by top schools that reinstated their testing policies indicates that submitting scores—regardless of institutional requirements—is a more strategic move. M.I.T. Dean of Admission Stuart Schmill notes, for instance: “Just getting straight A’s is not enough information for us to know whether the students are going to succeed or not.” Contrary to pandemic-era assumptions about the potential for standardized testing to exacerbate inequalities in the admissions process, Dartmouth’s study on standardized testing found that “these test scores better position Admissions to identify high-achieving less-advantaged applicants and high-achieving applicants who attend high schools for which Dartmouth has less information to interpret the transcripts.”
Colleges Are Admitting More First-Gen Applicants
Since the Supreme Court’s ruling on Affirmative Action in 2023, colleges have struggled to buoy the diversity of their student bodies while also abiding by the parameters set in place for consideration of race in admissions. A number of schools have seen noticeably shifts in the makeup of their student body since affirmative action—Harvard, for instance, saw a dip in Black student enrollment for the Class of 2028 (demographic data for the Class of 2029 will be released when this admissions cycle concludes). As they strive to combat this impact, many schools are hopeful that increasing socioeconomic diversity will lead to greater diversity overall. Amherst College, for example, announced that a record-breaking 25% of their incoming freshman class will be first generation students. The institution also noted that as a result of their participation in the STARS Network, the number of accepted students hailing from rural areas increased by 37%. Georgia Tech, likewise, noted that 17% of their incoming class are first-gen, and 15% from rural Georgia. Brown, too, touted that 19% of their admitted class will be first-gen students, and 73% of admitted students intend to apply for financial aid.
Early Pathways Are More Desirable Than Ever Before
Given the emphasis on yield rate at top schools, early admissions pathways are becoming increasingly desirable options for top students, as early admissions rates at top schools tend to be significantly higher than Regular Decision rates. For instance, Brown’s early application acceptance rate was 17.95%, compared to its overall rate of 5.65%; Emory accepted nearly one-third of early applicants, with early admits typically accounting for roughly half of the student body; meanwhile, Northwestern announced that more than half of the students admitted to the school’s Class of 2029 were admitted in the early application cycle. Given these numbers, it is no wonder that early pools are swelling at many top institutions, with around 58% of students applying early action or early decision, according to Vox.
Admissions Rates for the Class of 2029
Below are admissions statistics for top institutions that have released data by March 28th, 2025:
- Amherst College
- Number of Applicants: 15,818
- Number of Accepted Students: N/A
- Admissions Rate: 7% (Pre-Waitlist)
- Boston College
- Number of Applicants: 39,681
- Number of Accepted Students: ~5,000
- Admissions Rate: 12.6%
- Brown University
- Number of Applicants: 42,765 (Total)
- Number of Accepted Students: 1,511 RD (2,418 Overall)
- Admissions Rate: 5.65% (Total)
- Columbia University
- Number of Applicants: 59,616
- Number of Accepted Students: 2,557
- Admissions Rate: 4.29%
- Cornell
- Number of Applicants: N/A
- Number of Accepted Students: 5,824
- Admissions Rate: N/A
- Dartmouth
- Number of Applicants: 28,230
- Number of Accepted Students: 1,702
- Admissions Rate: 6%
- Harvard University
- Number of Applicants: N/A
Number of Accepted Students: N/A
Admissions Rate: N/A
- Number of Applicants: N/A
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Number of Applicants: 29,282
- Number of Accepted Students: 1,324
- Admissions Rate: 4.52%
- Princeton
- Number of Applicants: N/A
- Number of Accepted Students: N/A
- Admissions Rate: N/A
- Tufts University
- Number of Applicants: 33,400
- Number of Accepted Students: N/A
- Admissions Rate: 10.5%
- University of Virginia
- Number of Applicants: 64,463 (17,608 VA; 46,855 Out-of-State)
- Number of Accepted Students: N/A
- Admissions Rate: 23% In-State: 12.5% Out-of-State
- University of Pennsylvania
- Number of Applicants: Over 72,000
Number of Accepted Students: N/A
Admissions Rate: N/A
- Number of Applicants: Over 72,000
- University of Southern California
- Number of Applicants: 83,500
Number of Accepted Students: 8,684
Admissions Rate: 10.4%
- Number of Applicants: 83,500
- University of Notre Dame
- Number of Applicants: 35,401 (REA and RD)
- Number of Accepted Students: N/A
- Admissions Rate: 9%
- Williams College
- Number of Applicants: 14,261
- Number of Accepted Students: 1,313
- Admissions Rate: 8.5%
- Yale University
- Number of Applicants: 50,227 (Total)
- Number of Accepted Students: 1,580 (Regular Decision)
- Admissions Rate: 4.59%
Originally published on Forbes
